I’m honestly curious…where’s the trash talk? All I said was I didn’t expect AA to lift the bar. I didn’t think they were in a negotiating position to do so. Too much debt, too poor metrics, too few reasons to demand much more and a (reportedly) disgruntled, miserable and disjointed pilot group who has such a terrible current contract that they’re likely to accept something less than other pilot groups might. I’m just conveying an opinion based on chatter with good friends who fly for AA, never having even been in an AA cockpit myself. I don’t blame them for their operation or their contract any more than I take blame or credit for ours. And if any US major might be first to flirt with bankruptcy in a global economic downturn, I’ve generally thought that would be AA based primarily on their debt load. The more a new contract costs AA, the longer it takes to ease that financial burden and hedge against the next black swan.

Some of y’all need to get some thicker skin if this Delta knucklehead is getting under it by posting my random impressions of a TA synopsis. I’m happy for everyone who likes this TA - looks a lot like ours (that I voted for myself).